Mixing it up
Ivan Smith warehouse uses multiple concrete applications to make up for lost time

By Martin W. Schwartz

When the Ivan Smith Furniture Co. began building its new warehouse on Shreveport's west side, there wasn't a lot of discussion about what to use in the building's construction.

"I believe there is an ordinance in the Shreve Industrial Park (in which the new warehouse is located) that all facilities be made of tilt-wall construction," said Christopher T. Sitton, project manager/estimator for Brown Builders Inc. The Bossier City firm is responsible for building the 100,000-sq.-ft., $7 million warehouse project.

"This is a design-build project, meaning that Brown Builders has utilized its own architects and engineers to try to meet the owner's needs," he added.

Located nearly 10 miles west of its current warehouse, the new Ivan Smith Furniture facility will operate 24 hours a day as the receiving, storage and distribution center for the retailer. With 30-plus stores currently serving the three-state area known in north Louisiana simply as the Ark-La-Tex, the Ivan Smith Furniture warehouse has been designed to meet the company's current needs while allowing for future expansion.

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"They've got a total of 17 acres and we're currently working on only 8 to 10 acres," Sitton said. "They've definitely planned for their future."

The north wall of the structure was designed to be non-load bearing, allowing one, two or all the panels to be easily removed to accommodate growth.

Groundbreaking on the warehouse took place in February with underground, utility and associated work paving the way for a scheduled slab placement on Memorial Day weekend.

But then the rains hit, and Sitton said spring rains and a huge volume of concrete created problems during the project. June storms pushed slab placement back six weeks. "We have tried to look for specific areas where we know we can step up our schedule," he said. "We're putting in better than 10-hour days and six-day weeks."

Initial slab placement was to be carried out in 10 days time but was completed in seven. That's no small feat because the finished slab carried ultra stringent flatness specifications to ensure that 40-ft. furniture storage racks and the telescoping retrieval equipment have a secure and level base.

Builders Supply of Shreveport provided the concrete, and it worked with Ace Avant Concrete Construction of Archdale, N.C., to develop a new mix design.

"What we used was the design that was preferred by (Ace Avant), a mix design they had used on past projects and had good results as far as flatness, finish ability and overall performance of the concrete," Sitton said.

Judd Wagler, a sales representative for Builders Supply, wouldn't disclose the exact composition of the mix design but said that local aggregates were used.

The first placement of 750 cu. yds. of concrete was completed between the hours of midnight and 8 a. m. and was tested immediately upon curing by Face Consultants, a Kentucky-based company. Ace Avant and Face Consultants were the only businesses outside of the Shreveport/Bossier area used in the project.

Sitton said that after nearly 100,000 sq. ft. of concrete was tested, only two areas of approximately 1 sq. ft. each were out of tolerance and required additional grinding.

The slab is pulling double duty by serving as the casting bed for the warehouse's new walls. Two layers of bond breaker were spread over the slab to ensure little or no damage to either the floor or the wall panels.

"One layer is more than likely suitable, but at the cost per pound we're looking at, it's a preventative measure to assure that the panel will not stick to the slab," Sitton said. "It's pennies on the dollar compared to what it would cost to break the panel off the slab."

Forms were constructed on the slab with window and door openings in place. Nearly 2,500 cu. yds. of concrete will be used in the creation of the 9.25-in.-thick wall panels, which are formed as near to the point of erection as possible. The shortest panel will be 35 ft. and the tallest approximately 45 ft. in height.

A portion of each panel will be below grade in order to tie into the structural drill shafts - 20-ft.-deep holes sunk into the ground around the structure, filled with concrete and topped with a welding plate. The parking lot will be cast up to the erected panel and the finished floor will tie into the wall panel as well, locking it between two concrete pours.

Each panel has 10 to 15 weld plates and the overall project has nearly 800 weld plates to hold the concrete walls in place and provide structural integrity.

Trio Fabricators of Shreveport will be responsible for lifting and placing each panel as it is completed with a 200-ton crawler crane. While the heaviest panel weighs 60,000 lbs., the company is preparing for twice that weight to initially break the seal of the concrete panel off the slab.

Once in place, the concrete will be sandblasted, textured and painted.

"We will have reveals associated with windows and openings to try to form some kind of architectural feature other than looking at just plain ugly concrete," Sitton said. He pointed to the Frymaster building just west of the site as an example of an aesthetically pleasing tilt-wall structure.

He added that the most unique aspect of the project was the sheer volume of concrete required for the job.

"I think we placed 80 to 100 cu. yds. of concrete an hour during the initial placement," Sitton said. "That's eight to 10 trucks an hour."

When the project is finished, including site paving, curving gutters and other necessary work, Sitton said the warehouse will require more than 5,000 cu. yds. of concrete and will have been visited by more than 200 concrete trucks.

The Ivan Smith Furniture Warehouse is currently scheduled for completion by mid-December, but Sitton said Brown Builders is working steadily to improve on that date.

"This is one of those jobs that the start date may have drug out a little, but our completion date has remained the same," he added.

Useful Resource

For more information about tilt-up concrete construction, go to: http://www.tilt-up.org/